“Thanks for having me,” I replied as she closed the door.
As I walked back downstairs, the anger that I’d ignored while I had Diana came right back to the surface. I couldn’t fucking believe Myla had cornered me at her niece’s birthday party. Not only was it not the time, but she’d also known that Harper was around somewhere and could’ve overheard her. Maybe that’s what she’d been counting on.
I found her in the living room.
“Why the fuck would you say that shit?” I called out as I crossed the room.
“Don’t fucking yell at me!”
“What the hell is going on?” Cian asked, glancing at the ceiling. “The kids can hear you two.”
“Myla thinks I’ve been goin’ back and forth between Harper and Lou, I guess?” I replied, lowering my voice. “Because that sounds like somethin’ I’d do.”
“What the hell, Myla?” Cian asked in confusion.
“You saw him coming out of the bedroom with Lou, too,” she snapped. “I’m not the only one.”
“Nothin’ happened,” I ground out through my teeth. “We’ve slept in the same bed a hundred times. Nothin’ ever happens.”
“Sure, it doesn’t,” Myla retorted, rolling her eyes.
“Why don’t you ask Lou? She’d tell you the same thing.”
“Lou refuses to badmouth youever,” Myla shot back.
“Maybe because there’s nothin’ to say?” I asked sarcastically.
“You guys need to take this out on the porch,” Cian said firmly. “The kids don’t need to hear you bitchin’ each other out.”
“I’m done,” I said, shaking my head as I raised my hands in surrender. “Completely fuckin’ done.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Myla sputtered as she followed me outside.
The cool air did nothing to calm me down. I’d told Harper flat out that there wasn’t anything going on with Lou, and now she thought there was because Myla couldn’t keep her opinions to her goddamn self for once in her life.
“Fuck off, Myla.”
“You fuck up, and somehow I’m the bad guy?” She scoffed. “Yeah, that makes sense.”
“I didn’t do shit to you,” I spit, spinning to face her. “Once again you put your nose in where it doesn’t fuckin’ belong.”
“So, I’m just supposed to ignore the crap you’ve been pulling?”
“How long have you fuckin’ known me?” I asked, pointing to my chest. “This is such bullshit.”
“Clearly I don’t know you that well.”
“Clearly,” I snapped, then realization dawned. “You’re not pissed because you think I had somethin’ goin’ with both of ’em. You’re pissed because I’ve got somethin’ with someone who isn’t Lou.”
“That isnotit.”
“It is,” I replied, glancing at Cian, who was watching us both warily. “In your head, me and Lou were supposed to be a couple, and you’ve got your panties in a twist because I’m seein’ someone else—which is completely fucked up because you know Harper. She’s not just club, she’s blood. YouloveHarper.”
“Maybe I’m pissed because you’ve been stringing Lou along for years,” Myla argued.
“That’s not even fuckin’ true,” I replied, throwing my hands up. “And if you talked to Lou about it, she’d tell you the same thing.”
“I’d tell her what?” Lou asked quietly, stepping out onto the porch and carefully closing the front door behind her.
